Security in the gas mines was always a priority to operations on Halon V. The discovery of the Mk 9 gas vein in Tunnel 316 lead for a completely new style of colony mining. Simple tunnel gate security wasn't enough, pirates could infiltrate the surface colony in order to gain access, cargo ships were hijacked and stolen regularly. During a lockdown of the tunnel, the pirates would assault the surface colony, using it as a ransom to have the gates re-opened, after months of stuggling to break even the colony leaders & security firms made a new deal & moved the entire colony inside Tunnel 316.

BEAR JR.

The basic idea is a network of caverns far beneath the ocean. The chambers have filled with seawater, but liquid CO2 has collected at the bottom, forming an undersea lake. I'm not sure, but I think the 'city' (even though it was fashioned by creatures as a dwelling place, I doubt it's sophisticated enough to be considered a city) is actually a ruin, with only the dead husks of its former inhabitants filling the tunnels.

YADAM

Since construction on the moon began these 'tunnels' have been specially built to quickly and safely transport materials needed from Earth. The tunnels lower from a group of space stations in geo-stationary orbit.

DEFTONYS

this looks like cave but it's not cos if i'm right cave is a hole where is just one way in and out and tunnel is where is another way out or in...

soo in this place there is lots of entry passages... and lots of people living... well not exatly people but greatures...

they found this stalactite cave like tunnel network and started their colony in there cos they cant stand light they provide them selves gloving stones to light their way...

in time the tunnels collapsed so they didnt get out in night to go hunt or get other food but they got other ways to feed their hunger... (big mystery)

and they still live in there without the knowing of rest of the world or we knowing about them...

EDUJANTE

in 2067, after the world crack up a secret organisation called the pink fandangos start they uprising blowing up the most impotant city around the world...

CHAOSROCKS

In the Tunnel between Heaven and Hell the city grew. taking advantage of the quixotic gravity , everyspace was utilized by this teeming commercial metropolis. It is amazing how many things from heaven are longed for in hell and vice versa. The merchants have made a fortune in the thriving trade....

PEG

Located at the very bottom of the deeps, these caves were found when a research team set out to recover long lost DNA in order to kickstart operation: F.I.S.H.

Hoping to find remnants of organic material at the bottom of The Oestersjoe the crew patiently scanned the bottom of the abyss and stumbled upon the tunnels.
The completely lifeless oceans were thought to be thoroughly mapped but these huge tunnels came as a big surprise. Although test proved these tunnels to have been submerged during the construction of the strange facilities stretching across the tunnels, no signs of life were ever found.

KICEK

founded 2391 in the wreck of the fallen battleship Prts.fr7, tunnel city quickly became universe&#180;s largest crackhotel.

SKUNK

london was once the hight of elegance a pioner in achitecture but some time in 2074, a rare and valuble deposit of oil was discovered deep beneath this city, whilst alternative fuels where failing, the location of the last oil deposit spread across the world and in a matter of months and soon after america declared war on the country, its reasoning for doing so has never been publicly admitted, but even so the war contiued, this oil reserve had made england one of the most powerful countrys in the world and they were reluctant to give it up... for three years now the war has been fought over london with only meters of progress lost and gained...

the few recruits left to hold the city have coded it as the "tunnel city" due to the fact that for three years the the sun has been blocked out due to all the smoke and debre being constantly threwn into the air, now the only light sorce comes from the constant and deafening explosions heared from all around. and still the guns keep firing...

ARTTORNEY

The lone mechanized transportation facility in the Pluto colony was a ceiling mounted electric monorail. No need for roads led to the result that the entire floor of the 17 mile long tunnel was a warren of randomly jumbled buildings with narrow corridors in between.

AK86

This is a post-modern Dwarfen Mining City. The Mining Communities were first established to create affordable accommodation for the Miner's families. The community rapidly grew through its efficiency and international success so they expanded rapidly, building more and more accommodation in the pre dug tunnels. Now the Mining Community has grown into a Mining City, which is formed of vast amounts of Towns that litter the numerous tunnels, created from constant mining.

JFWALLS

Day 267 of Our Lord's 345th year

The sun was just rising, and I could hear that stupid lizard again. Every morning for the past 2 weeks that thing keeps waking me up with its barking noises. I swear it knows how annoyed I get. I wish one of the Fire Talons would swoop down and get it, but it either hides too well, or they just ignore it. If this keeps up I'll have to move deeper, but then I won't get to see the sunset. Sometimes I wished I had never moved. Oh well, I guess I'd never have a job as good as the one I have now. Off to work.

YOITISI

Achmagrollah

This subterranean city is built in the middle of the Aghorin Desert and occupies most of the massive piece of sandstone rock that dominates the horizon. Underneath this massive rock fortress there is a great subterranean lake, which makes it possible for the city to be completely atonomous from the outside world, which in the past made it a strategic position for both its neighbouring kingdoms. However, No enemy has ever taken the city because its few well guarded entrances and maze of tunnels make it a very hard target. Lately rumours are spreading that, since there has been no major rainfall the last couple of years, the underground lake is getting dried up because of the massive city that depends on it every day. It seems that the once great city of Aghmagrollah will lose its power and will empty, its inhabitants migrating to better lands. The desert will reclaim it once again.

KOSHIME

In the worlds of Dryven, therein lies a vast abandoned network of massive paasageways thought to be long abandoned. After a time, many intrepid explorers returned this vast network to power and brought them to the skyies where it now lies as a vast sky port of the Dryven

JUNTHI

This is the future. In the biggest cities, there's not space left to expand and the scyscrapers can't grow forever so more and more buildings are built underground. As time goes by, a whole new world developes under the downtown. A massive tunnel system goes miles belove the ground. Apartments above the ground level cost a fortune. The poor live in the deepest levels of the city. There is a 3d subway net - trains don't go just north and south, there are trains that go just up and down. The tunnels are actually empty, the streets are built indoors. However, when you look outside the window, you may see a striking view like this

COLLINSULLY

The City of Durinthia: Guardian City of Hell's Passage.
Durinthia was constructed in the mid 19th century when the church discovered the first entrances to hell. Pope Gregory XVI commissioned the city in secret as a means for the church to bind Lucifer's demons. A large tunnel leads several miles into the earth, where special priests hold vigil morning noon and night, performing ceremonies which seal the entrance to hell using the power of sacred relics.

ROBMORPHIN

Tunnel City, said the legend was created in the search for Chaos, the godess of the Depths, the faith and belief was so big that the tunnels extended for almost all of the Trident continent, settlers created cities, every time a war was fought the previous city had been demolished and the new one built on top, the tunnel surrounding it was sacred therefore never touched.

BEELOW

City dwellers move about this great metropolis hidden within this tube-like city.

that was the inspiration fo rthe topic
It was Junthi's but it was made earlier and therefor not eligible for the poll
He knew that and posted it as inspiration, he then made a new and differenter one for this weeks activity. Its in the rules that you can't post previously created work for the weekly topic.
chaos

To see the world in a grain of sand, and a heaven in a wildflower, hold infinity in the palm of your hand, and eternity in an hour.

Junthi, nice piece, but the original one was a killer, too bad it was not acceptedKoshime, great piece, but, man, the image that you have on your mainpage on your website is awesome, I would have chosen that one without hesitation if it was posted hereKicek, great piece, but I doesn't feel like cityYoitisi, I really like your piece, very niceYadam, nice concept and nicely paint, it's just that right hand super long tunnel, it's kind of hard to believeChaos, I like the kaleidoscope effect you gotATAnderson, you got my vote again, so much detail in such a little space, your picture is really telling a story, nice spaceships also, well done!
everyone else, nice entries

Hey everyone, I would really appreciate any type of crit (even nitpicks) anyone can offer. The reason I don't show WIP in the main thread is so that any mistakes I am making are taken to the poll and when I look back on my work, see were people have commented, it's like a catalogue of my mistakes, it helps me to learn I think.

Ok to crit you guys, if anyone feels I am incorrect or don't like what I have said just say so or ignore it.

Here goes:-
BEAR JR. - Mabye a little more play with the lighting and colour, it's quite heavily lit for a cave, and some more suggestion of a living area or even a sense of scale. I think you wanted this to be organic looking, which you have a achieved, but personally I think it would be cool to see some indication of recognisable forms or elements. Like little boats or a suggestion of a second living level (upstairs caves?).

YADAM - Lovely colours and perspective, the texture and colour on the centre pillar is great.
I have been thinking since I saw your image of what it is missing and I am still not sure if I know. It reads well, I know what everything is, but I think it is missing that dash of life & movement. The people in the foreground are working but mabye a repetition of this further into the painting, or a ship flying at a dynamic angle, giving a sense of bussel? I think the word is. I on the otherhand tend to really over work the details so mabye its just a personal thing.

DEFTONYS - You have done a good job with the mood and general environment, but I think the only thing that make this a city is your description. A little indication of a dwelling or scale would just finish your concept nicely.

EDUJATE - A really cool image man, I like the mood and colours a lot. However I don't believe it shows a city that clearly, but it would be cool as a first image in a set of sequentials about the city. Good work anyway.

CHAOSROCKS - It's a fairly suggestive piece of artwork, it looks like I am looking down vertically into a tunnel (or tunnel city). With a strong perspective setup of guide & helper lines you could really work this up & get it to read well just as it stands.

PEG - I really like this one man, these little lights really help to suggest what I mentioned in BEAR JR & DEFTONYS entries. Only suggestion would be to add a forground element (another vertical half off screen).

KICEK - Really nice loose style. What I like most about this is the way the paint is applied to the image, I don't know how to achieve this style like the steambot guys you have, good work. To crit, some better use of linear perspective, this would allow for a foreground section. At the moment although scale is a little hard to read but seems so vast that it would make sense that we were placed further into the painting with a forground element.

SKUNK - A little bit too loose for me. You could still get away with this if you really worked up a focal point in the image. This is something I always stuggle with too. Some nice texture and colour in there though.

ARTTORNEY - I always hesitate when I look at your stuff cause you have a very diverse style and application. If I was looking at it like everyone else's piece I would say some work on values, particularly value perspective and some human elements for life & scale.

AK86 - Nice job man, everything is there that needs to be there. As a little exercise for yourself (feel free to disregard) try taking your image into PS on one layer, duplicate it and set the top one to Multiply, then use the eraser to carve out the lights and highlights. Just a quick way to get a much fuller range of values. Thanks for your comment in the other poll.

JFWalls - I did prefer your original entry, it had your nice loose brushstrokes. This one is cool too, it's a daring perspective and there are a few bits which are off but overall a good job. Nice one.

YOTISI - Respect for the analogue man. I think you have done a very good job here, I have nothing to crit, this is a strong concept well executed. You could have pushed that values further in PS, but then the traditional piece would be lost. You got my vote.

KOSHIME - Wicked piece of work. As I have said in your sketchbook before I think your stuff is excellent. This piece as nice as it looks, is not of your greatest works, still very cool. Nice to see you partaking again.

JUNTHI - The original tunnel city piece of yous is awesome and this one is cool also, a bit more of a polish and it could have been really good. Look forward to seeing more of your works.

COLINSULLY - Nice idea and angle, A little more work on developing the forms with value and the relationshup between the castle and the ground seems a little bit odd, like it was just placed there, still a nice concept.

ROBMORPHIN - Nice work man, you are really getting into your value perspective well. The whole image seems to be made up of individual elements which aren't flowing that well together. Almost as if you could draw a line around each one of the mountains, tunnels and the foreground. I am not sure how you work on this, mabye (if you aren't already) try working on the image as one, constantly moving around it as you paint & sart off working monochromatically. Original concept and your stuff is really improving. Keep upi the good work.

BEELOW - nice piece man as always. The cyan colour in the distance could be intergrated into other parts of the image more in order to create a better flow & the buildings look like they need just a little extra texture or life/detail, though I am unsure the best way to achieve this in painter. Still a cool concept that works well.

I think that's everyone, I would really appreicate a critical beating about my entry guys, but only if you get time.

AT Andersen- your entry is quite good. When looking for things to pick at about the only thing I could see was that the lighted windows seem only to come in two sizes. Maybe you could have made the nearest windows a little bigger and then concentrated a little more on having a gradient of window sizes from larger to smaller going off into the distance. Your atmospheric perspective is great and so the distance still reads as distance, but a little more play with geometry would have made the perspective inexorable. Thanks for the crit.

Thanks for the crit Mr. Anderson (hehe). I think I'll post the other one in the FF section when it's done. As for this one, well I have to admit the perspective is off on quite a few areas, but in my defense I did freehand it all.

robmorfin, yeah, I didn't think anything like that would be feasable. I started out thinking it wasn't really a workable concept, but I found some info about space elevators and thought it could work, though not like i've done it

Must have just been imageshack chaos. Thanks for the superfast fix - is it not like 2am in UK?

Not working on romeo & juliet I'm afraid, need to take a little break from CA and focus on my portfolio. I will try to make the next EOW I do one of the specific brief ones as I think they are an excellent challenge.

Voted ATanderson, because it fitted best with the 'Tunnel City' idea. Lots of great entries but with quite a lot I didn't really have the feeling of it being a city.

Now for some crits

ATanderson: Lots of detail, which is cool, but here and there the logic behind the placing of this detail is a bit lost. As a rule I always make either the foreground or the center of attention the most detailed ones, and everything else loses detail the further it is away from that spot. In your drawing their are a few spots where their are just a few brushstrokes where I would've expected a little more detail. Overall it makes it look a bit unsharp to me somehow. Also, the perspective on the spacecraft on the platform is a bit wobly I think.

Bear JR: First I have to say that I didn't get the feeling of it being a city. Adding some homes or creatures or something would've helped. Also, the scale isn't clear because of this; it could be an enormous cavern but also just a hole.

Yadam: While I did like yours, it seems a bit unfinished and rushed. Also, there is something funny with the composition but I can't quite put my finger on it. I think it has to do with the 3 'vertical' lines of the tunnels and supportbeams of the walkway en the one horizontal line of the walkway. They make my eyes leaving the frame I think. Maybe it also has to with there being nothing to drag my gaze into the frame like a walkway dissappearing into the vanishing point or something. A bit more detail in the foreground would help too.

Deftonys: Since your idea is so unlike cities as we know them, it would really have helped to draw in some humans/ creatures to show there are people living in this cave. It could use some sort of foreground too, maybe by making the perspective on the path towards the city much more stronger.

Edujante: I almost voted for you, if it wasn't for the fact that it would've been nice if you had drawn a bit more of the city The style is great, but with a bit more work it would've been even better.

Chaosrocks: it looks..well..unfinished ? In addition to ATandersons crits, i'd say that by making the black spots lighter further up the tunnel the sense of depth gets better. Also, the composition is very centered atm, which gives me the feeling I'm looking at a crosssection of the tunnel. Might be an idea to shift the point of view just a little so that it looks as if the viewer actually stands on the tunnelfloor somewhere. I like the background story though

Peg: Have to agree with ATanderson here, but again I miss the people living here. If you'd added like a submarine with a diver swimming next to it or something the viewer immediatelly gets some sense of scale.

Kicek: Almost got my vote Your piece could do with a little thightening up in my opinion. While I like the sort of speedpainting style, it is a bit too rushed in places (like the wobbly walkways for example). Also, the perspective of your piece is not really clear. Some tunnels are getting smaller the closer to the viewer they are, while the tunnels at the top just go from left to right.

Skunk: Agreed with ATanderson here, your piece is very loose. In fact, if I didn't know this was for 'Tunnel City' I would have a hard time recognizing it as such I have to say. Get some details in there is my suggestion.

Arttorney: If I hadn't seen more of your work I would know what to think of it. It's very very basic. Some more playing with values and difference in shading would make it look stronger I think. One thing that really bothered me was the text on the left, it stands out like a sore thumb to me and doesn't really fit with the rest of the drawing in my opinion.

AK86: I expected at least one dwarven city Although the idea of it being a city is clear, it would've really helped if you had added a dwarf or two in the foreground. Apart from it giving your drawing a sens of scale, it also makes clear we're talking dwarves here. Relying on your description to tell important things about your drawing is one I always try to avoid myself. Maybe a bit more contrast would make your piece stronger too, right now it's all very gray and a bit flat.

JFWalls: Very cool style, and that little story fits really well. It almost looks like one of those medieval woodcuts . I actually like it very much, but it doesn't really give me the feeling of it being a tunnel city, although I do understand what you were going for. As for the piece itself, the sky is..well..very blue. It could have use a bit more texture or something. Also, whit it being sunrise and stuff, the shadows on the walls could have had a bit more contrast and sharpness.

Koshime: Great atmosphere and style, but it could've used some detail somewhere to show it's a city and not some random shapes or a rock formation. A couple of lights from windows or something would already do the trick I guess. Nice use of color though.

Junthi: Repeating ATanderson, a bit more polishing would help here. I love the sketchyness of it, but it just looks as if you're halfway finished to me.

Collinsully: Nice background story. As for the drawing itself, just a bit more detail on the city would make it stand out from the rest, it is after all your focus point. The part of the cave at the top of the drawing ends a bit sharp, I feel like there should be a bit more rock to keep up the roof. The wall in front of the city looks a bit like its coming lose of the ground it stands on because of its sharp transition of color.

Robmorphin: I have little to add on what ATanderson already mentioned. One thing though is that when I draw environments I use as a rule never to leave any white space unpainted. You can paint back in the white afterwards, but always make sure every millimeter of your painting is used.

Beelow: Again, mr. Anderson already said most of what I wanted to say. More detail up front would create a bit more depth. And, is that a modified X-wing?

Weeeeell, that's it for now I guess. It took me quite a while but see it as a compensation for me not participating in the next round I want to finish another round of COW this week. Would have been easier if I didn't automatically logged out while writing this so I could post it before logging in again.

my vote went to atanderson-besides being well painted i think this piece best illustrated the brief. the painting could use some harder edges closer to the viewer. the depth is easily read, because of the heavy atmospheric perspective, but i think the midground could stand out a bit more. i love the subtle lighting that you added to the flying ships on the left but i think they get lost in the bg, maybe some different hues? i also think the composition would be more compelling if you lost the foreground elements.

Atanderson- I still struggle with design and composition, in trying to solve that first. I believe that it is most important to establish that before I go into working out the piece with detail. Usually most of my designs within the piece are afterthoughts(Buildings, ships, bridges) when I sit there and work them out. I just run out of time all the time when I am working on these paintings. I want something really good when I add it to my folio. But, I will consider those things to finish that painting.

Yoitisi- Thanx, I will do that. I didn't try to. I had that star wars episode 3 concept art book as inspiration. Also Church works in painter; his work heavily influence, I think. Thanx again! XD

Hey everyone, I would really appreciate any type of crit (even nitpicks) anyone can offer. The reason I don't show WIP in the main thread is so that any mistakes I am making are taken to the poll and when I look back on my work, see were people have commented, it's like a catalogue of my mistakes, it helps me to learn I think.

ROBMORPHIN - Nice work man, you are really getting into your value perspective well. The whole image seems to be made up of individual elements which aren't flowing that well together. Almost as if you could draw a line around each one of the mountains, tunnels and the foreground. I am not sure how you work on this, mabye (if you aren't already) try working on the image as one, constantly moving around it as you paint & sart off working monochromatically. Original concept and your stuff is really improving. Keep upi the good work.

Originally Posted by yoitisi

Robmorphin: I have little to add on what ATanderson already mentioned. One thing though is that when I draw environments I use as a rule never to leave any white space unpainted. You can paint back in the white afterwards, but always make sure every millimeter of your painting is used.

AtAnderson, Thanks a lot, I did not notice that it became individual elements until you mentioned, thanks, I'll give it a try moving around, I did start monoc. but didn't notice it, I was too concerned with the atmospheric perspective; You also ask for crits, I saw some minor things that didn't want to mention, but here they go: People in the middle of the platform are not casting any shadows, skinny sharp lights on top of right side cave should have smoother edge, it's very dark & humid & they would create some kind of halo, top area between the two columns is kind of flat, should create some kind of bending curve to simulate distance, left side spaceships have some lighting on top of them, but buildings close to them don't, hope it helps!

Yoitisi, thanks, I usually apply a fill at the beggining, this time I forgot, thanks.

Didn't have time to crit everyone else, so here it goes:

Bear Jr, Nice depth, needs some kind of civilization
Deftonys, Nice start, try to avoid having main element in the middle, needs a hint of cityEdujante, Nice colors,perspective is off in the top right element, get rid of guidelines (red lines)Peg, nice concept and lighting, just think the left side need somethingSkunk, hard to see it as a tunnel, nice scribbles, concept something like that for the "after the battle" EOW, it will be a nice one, I like the scribblesArttourney, windows are rarely white and they should have a frrame if they are close, sign gets all your attention,you need to add shadows, also, different planes are different colorsAK86, very nice piece, bridge lines are too parallel, bridge is too close to the middle of the image, add a base to the posts to make them look stronger and more sold, add people or boats by the pierJFwalls, very nice piece, perspective a little bit off, almost unnoticeable, nice detail and texturing, you are combining too many architectural elements with different sizes, so you loose scale & loose the focal point, there is a stair going nowhere (upper right side), add some texture to the skyCollinsully, nice concept, but castle looks too flat, add shadows to itBeelow, very nice piece, very dynamic, hard to tell orientation of buildings, makes your eyes go around and around trying to figure it out.

I went for peg....awsome colours, cool textures, just love the feel of it....it was between that one and KOSHIME's-love the colours in that one too...sorry I dont have time to comment on them all-sweet environments guys